Amusement apparatus



AMUSEMENT APPARATUS Filed April 4," 1941 3 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. JOHN F COURTNE);

April 21, 1942- .1. F. COURTNEY AMUSEMENT APPARATUS Filed April'4, 1941 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR JoH/v 1'." COURTNEY, BY (MW April 21, 1942. J. F. COURTNEY v AMUSEMENT APPARATUS Filed April 4, 1941 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 mm m F 1 M "NIL, N. T km N. m m N m V T w. W mm v on 0 v a W Mv v u N v. \MW M B U m I II I 2 J MW *N RN V M M a r Q E L. mm v cured thereto.

Patented Apr. 21, 1942 AMUSEMENT APPARATUS John F. Courtney, Florence, S. assignor of one-half to Curtis J. Velare and one-half to Elmer C. Velare, both of Chicago, 111.

Application April 4, 1941, Serial No. 386.911

15 Ciaims.

My invention relates to amusement apparatus of the Ferris wheel type.

An important object of the invention i to provide apparatus of the above-mentioned character which will aiford the maximum visibility for the riders.

A further object of the invention is to provide apparatus of the above-mentioned character which is relatively simple in construction.

A further object of the invention is to provide apparatus of the above-mentioned character which will cause the riders to travel in an oblique plane, while turning about individual axes.

A further object of the invention is to provide apparatus of the above-mentioned character which will subject the riders to different speeds While traveling in the oblique plane thereby producing thrills.

A further object of the invention is to provide apparatus of the above-mentioned character which may be quickly loaded and unloaded.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent during the course of the following description.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this application and in which like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout the same,

Figure 1 is a plan view of apparatus embodying my invention,

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the same,

Figure 3 is a transverse section taken on line 3-3 of Figure 1,

Figure 4 is a similar view taken on line 4 l of Figure 1,

Figure 5 is a side elevation of a modified form of the invention, and,

Figure 6 is a detailed section through the bearing carried by the oblique support of the modified form of the invention, associated elements being in elevation.

Attention being called first to Figures 1 to inclusive, the numeral l9 designates a vertical tower, mounted upon a base H and connected with the base by suitable diagonal braces iii. If desired, the base I I may be placed upon a revolving horizontal platform or the base ll may be held stationary.

At its upper end, the tower H1 is provided with inclined or diagonal bars i3 and M, rigidly se- The diagonal bar 53 is provided with a central bearing l5 having its opening inclined 0r diagonal and the bar M has a bearing l6, having its opening inclined or diagonal. The

bearings 45 and it receive a rotatable preferably tubular hub ll. This 11 1b is provided with a stop ring 18 rigidly secured thereto and forming an end-thrust bearing with the bearing 55. The tubular hub ha a ring 59 rigidly secured thereto and forming an end-thrust bearing with the hearing it. The tubular hub is provided at its lower end with a reduced portion 2&3 receiving a Washer 2| and a nut 2-2, as shown. The tubular hub 11 has its axis of rotation vertically inclined or diagonally arranged.

Mounted upon the tubular hub ll to rotate therewith is a still beam 23, preferably formed of a truss-structure. This beam includes radial arms 24, of substantially the same length. This beam turns about the axis of rotation of the tubular hub l1 and is rigidly secured to the hub to rotate therewith and the beam rotates in a vertically inclined or oblique plane. This beam 23 constitutes an oblique rotatable support.

The arms 26 are provided at their outer ends with sleeves 25 in which are rigidly mounted vertically inclined or oblique pins 25. These pins have their longitudinal axes disposed. at a right angle to the plane of rotation of the beam 23. Large wheels so are mounted upon the pins 2% and each wheel includes a hub 2'17 carried by the pin 26. Each hub is connected with a driving wheel or pulley 28, for rotation therewith. The wheel is held upon the pin 26 by a washer 2S arranged beneath a nut 35 or the like. Each wheel comprises radial arms or spokes 3! which are stiff and may be in the form of truss-structures. In view of the foregoing description it is apparent that each wheel is rotatable and will turn in a horizontally inclined plane which is parallel with the plane of rotation of the beam 23. Arranged between the spokes 3! are passenger carrying supports or vehicles 32, preferably in the shape of boats. Each vehicle may include a body portion with a seat or seats, as is customary. The ends of the vehicles are connected with cables 33, which are attached to the outer ends of the radial arms 3|. The cables 33 extend circumferentially of the Wheel. There may be some slack in the cables which will permit of radial swinging movement of the vehicles. The wheel and vehicles are disposed entirely above the beam 23 and hence the riders have the maximum unobstructed vision. The radial arms 3! are inclined upwardly toward their outer ends so that the vehicles 32 Will properly clear the beam 23. The space between the inner portions of the large wheels 30' is unobstructed and the vehicles 32 of the different large wheels will pass close to each other when traveling through such unobstructed space. This will promote the fun and thrill of the riders. Further, the distance between the vehicles of the difierent wheels, while passing through the unobstructed space, will vary somewhat, due to the action of centrifugal force caused by the rotation of the large wheels, for the vehicles are supported by the flexible elements 33, and will therefore move outwardly by centrifugal force. Of course, the slack in the flexible elements 33 is such that the vehicles of the different large Wheels cannot strike when passing through the unobstructed space.

Means are provided to rotate the beam 23, comprising a vertical drive shaft 34, suitably mounted in the tower m. At its upper end this drive shaft has a beveled gear 35 rigidly secured thereto which engages a beveled gear 36, rigidly mounted upon the tubular hub ll. A large beveled gear 31 is rigidly mounted upon. the drive shaft 34, at its lower end, and is driven by a beveled gear 38, driven by a motor 39 or other prime mover.

The wheels 30' are rotatable independently of each other and independently of the rotation of the beam 23, and for this purpose each wheel is equipped with the pulley 28. This pulley is engaged by a belt 40, engaging a pulley 4i. pulley 4| is driven by a rotatable shaft 42, suitably mounted upon the arm 24. This shaft is driven by a beveled gear 43 engaging a beveled gear 44 driven by a motor 45.

Suitable switches are provided for the motors 39 and 45 and the operation of these motors are independently controlled.

The numeral 46 designates a loading platform.

The

The operation of the apparatus is as follows: i

The base I I may be stationary or it may rotate with a horizontal support. The beam 23 is rotated by the motor 39 and associated elements in a vertically inclined plane. The large wheels 30' are arranged above the arms 24 and this provides the maximum visibility for the riders. :2

These wheels travel bodily with the beam 23 and hence move in an inclined plane. While traveling with the beam 23 the wheels 3| may be rotated upon their axes. The wheels 30' have large radii. The radius of each wheel extends for the 211 major portion of the radius of the beam 23. This permits the outer end of each arm during the rotation of its wheel to approach near the center or turning axis of the beam 23. The vehicle 32 will be moved out by centrifugal force and will approach even nearer to the turning axis of the beam. It is thus apparent that the vehicles can come very near the turning axis of the beam which is rendered possible by mounting the large wheels upon the upper side of the beam so that there are no obstructions, since the pivot of the beam does not project above the beam for any considerable distance. The only limit to the size of the large wheels is that sufiicient space must be allowed between their inner portions so that there will be no tendency for the vehicles 32 of one wheel to strike the vehicles 32 of the other wheel. As shown in Figure 2, it will be apparent that when the rider traveling with the wheel 30,

as this wheel rotates bodily with the beam 23, is

at the outer portion of the wheel 30 he will then be at the maximum distance from the axis of rotation of the beam 23 and will be traveling at a high speed, while when the same rider is brought by the turning movement of the wheel 38' upon its axis of rotation to the inner position, the rider will be very near the axis of rotation of the beam 23 and hence will be traveling very slowly. The rider is therefore subjected to marked differences in speed of travel, when traveling bodily with the beam 23. This produces a thrill. The beam 23 may be brought to rest with one wheel 33 in the lowered position which may be stopped for loading or unloading while the other wheel 30' may continue to rotate.

In Figures 5 and 6, I have shown a modification of the invention. In this modification the arms 24 of the beam 23 are provided with angularly disposed extensions 41 having bearings and the openings of these bearings are disposed at an inclined angle with respect to the plane of rotation of the beam 23. The same wheels 30' are provided equipped with the vehicles 32. These wheels are now arranged beneath the beam 23 and the hubs 21 of the wheels 30' are rotated by the pins 26 These pins 26 are now held by the sleeves 25 at an inclined angle with respect to the plane of rotation of the beam 23. The arrangement is such that when each wheel 35.1 is brought to the lowermost position it will be horizontally arranged. The driving means for each wheel is somewhat modified and includes a beveled gear 48 secured to the pin 26 and this beveled gear is driven by a beveled gear 49 in turn driven by a motor 50 mounted upon the arm 25. The beam 23 is provided with the same driving means to turn it including the motor 39 as described in connection with the first form of the invention. Since the wheels 30' are arranged beneath the beam 23 the diagonal braces l2 for the tower ID are omitted upon one side of the tower to afford space for the lowered wheel 30'. All other parts of the apparatus remain the same as shown and described in the first form of the invention.

It is to be understood that the forms of my invention herewith shown and described are to be taken as preferred examples of the same and that various changes in the shape, size, and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of my invention or the scope of the subjoined claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. In amusement apparatus, a tower, an oblique support rotatably mounted upon the tower, means to rotate the support about its axis, large oblique wheels mounted upon the support near its outer portions and extending radially beyond the oblique support, said large wheels being disposed upon one side of the support and rotating in a plane substantially parallel with the plane of rotation of the support, means to rotate the wheels upon their axes, and vehicles carried by the outer portions of the large Wheels.

2. In amusement apparatus, a tower, an oblique support rotatably mounted upon the tower, means to rotate the support about its axis, large oblique wheels mounted upon the support near its outer portions and extending radially beyond the oblique support, said large oblique'wheels being disposed upon one side of the support for affording the maximum visibility to the riders, means to rotate the wheels upon their axes, and vehicles carried by the wheels near their periph eries.

3. In amusement apparatus, a tower, an oblique support rotatably mounted upon the tower, means to rotate the support, large wheels mounted upon the support near its outer portions and extending radially beyond the oblique support for a substantial distance, said large wheels being disposed upon one side of the support, means to rotate the large wheels upon their axes, and vehicles mounted upon the large wheels.

major portion of the length of the radius of the oblique support, means to rotate the large wheels upon their axes, and vehicles carried by the large wheels near their peripheries.

5. In amusement apparatus, a tower, an oblique support rotatably mounted upon the tower, means to rotate the support, wheels mounted upon the oblique support and arranged above the support and projecting radially beyond the oblique support, means to rotate the wheels upon their axes, and vehicles carried by the wheels.

-6. In amusement apparatus, a tower, an oblique support rotatably mounted upon the tower, means to rotate the support, wheels arranged above the support and rotatably mounted thereon, said wheels having their axes of rotation disposed at substantially a right angle to the plane of rotation of the support, said wheels projecting radially beyond the oblique support, and means to rotate the wheels upon their axes.

'7. In amusement apparatus, a tower, an oblique support rotatably mounted upon the tower, means to rotate the support, wheels rotatably mounted upon the support and having their axes of rotation disposed at an inclined angle with respect to the plane of rotation of the oblique support, the arrangement being such that each wheel is substantially horizontal when it is moved to the lowermost position, means to rotate the wheels upon their axes, and vehicles carried by the wheels.

8. In amusement apparatus, a tower, an oblique support rotatably mounted upon the tower, means to rotate the support, wheels disposed beneath the oblique support and rotatably mounted upon the same, said wheels having their axes of rotation disposed at an inclined angle with respect to the plane of rotation of the support, the arrangement being such that each wheel is substantially horizontal when brought to the lowermost position, and vehicles carried by the wheels.

9. In amusement apparatus, a tower, an oblique rotatable support mounted upon the tower, means to rotate the support, large wheels arranged above the support and rotatably mounted upon the outer portions thereof, each large wheel including radial arms having their outer ends at a substantial elevation above the support, means to rotate each large wheel upon its axis, a flexible means extending circumferentially of each large wheel, and vehicles carried by the flexible means, the arrangement being such that the space between the large wheels is unobstructed and the vehicles of the large wheels travel close to each other when traveling through said space.

10. In amusement apparatus, a tower, a rotatable support mounted upon the tower, means to rotate the support, large wheels disposed above the rotatable support and being rotatably mounted upon the outer portions thereof, each large wheel having a radius extending throughout the major portion of the length of the radius of the support, there being an unobstructed space above the support between the inner portions of the large wheels, vehicles for the large wheels, and flexible elements connecting the vehicles with the outer portions of the large wheels, the arrangement being such that the vehicles of the different large wheels travel close to each other when passing through the unobstructed space, such vehicles being also adapted to be moved outwardly with respect to the wheels carrying them due to the action of centrifugal force.

11. In amusement apparatus, a tower, an oblique support rotatably mounted upon the top of the tower, means to rotate the support, large wheels disposed above the rotatable support and rotatably mounted upon the outer portions thereof and extendin radially beyond the support, each large wheel including spokes which are inclined upwardly toward their outer ends from the support, cars arranged near and between the outer ends of the spokes, flexible elements suspending the cars and connected with the outer ends of the spokes, and separate means for rotating each large wheel upon its axis, said separate means being mounted upon the oblique support.

12. In amusement apparatus, a tower, an oblique support rotatably mounted upon the top of the tower, means to rotate the support, large wheels disposed above the rotatable support and disposed in an oblique plane substantially parallel with the plane of rotation of the oblique support, means to rotatably mount the large wheels upon the outer ends of the oblique support, each large wheel having a radius extending throughout the major portion of the length of the radius of the oblique support, each large Wheel extending radially beyond the oblique support for a substantial distance, each large Wheel including spokes which are inclined upwardly toward their outer ends from the support, cars arranged near the outer ends of the spokes, flexible elements suspending the cars from the outer ends of the spokes, and means to rotate the large wheels upon their axes including a prime mover mounted upon the rotatable support.

13. In amusement apparatus, a tower, an oblique support rotatably mounted upon the upper portion of the tower, large wheels disposed upon the same side of the support adjacent to the outer ends thereof, the large wheels projecting radially beyond the oblique support for a distance equal to the major portion of the length of the radius of the oblique support, each wheel comprising spokes which are inclined toward their free ends from the support when rotating across the support, means to rotatably mount each large wheel upon the support, cars arranged near the outer ends of the spokes, means connecting the cars with the spokes, and means to rotate the large wheels upon their axes.

14. In amusement apparatus, a tower, an oblique support rotatably mounted upon the upper portion of the tower, means to rotate the oblique support, large wheels rotatably mounted upon the support adjacent to its outer ends, the large wheels extending radially beyond the support for a distance equal to the major portion of the length of the radius of the support, passenger carrying devices carried by the outer portions of each large wheel, and means to rotate each large wheel upon its axis independently of the other large wheel, said means comprising a motor mounted upon the oblique support and gearing between the motor and its large wheel.

15. In amusement apparatus, a tower, an oblique support rotatably mounted upon the tower, means to rotate the support, wheels disposed above the rotatable support and rotatably mounted upon the support to turn about axes disposed transversely of the support, each wheel having its outer portion spaced from the support, vehicles carried by the outer portion of each wheel and held thereby spaced from and out of contact with the support, and means to rotate each wheel upon its axis.

JOHN F. COURTNEY. 

